LINTON KWESI Johnson describes himself as a “reggae artist who is also a poet” and his commitment to reggae and radical politics is as strong now as when he began in the late 1970s.
British-Jamaican spoken word poet and reggae singer Linton Kwesi Johnson plays Kelly’s, Bridge Street, on Saturday November 7 at 8pm as part of the Spirit of Voice festival.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s Johnson played support to Souixsie and The Banshees, Public Image Limited, and enjoyed six nights at the Hammersmith Odeon supporting Ian Dury.
However Johnson’s connection to music is not just confined to his association with musicians. Music is a driving force behind the creation and form of his poetry. His poems such as ‘Mekin Histri’ and ‘Mi Revalueshanary Fren’ use choruses while his verses always have a groove and his language a rhythm.
“A lot of structures for my verses come from work songs and digging songs, the call and response song form,” he told me when I interviewed him in 2003. “My writing is coming out of a reggae and oral tradition and it’s an alternative to the dominant trends of English classical poetry. I’m interested in the music of language, and the language of music and speech has a musical quality and I have a bass line in the back of my mind when I write.”
One thing LKJ has never shied away from is important issues. For the last 30 years he has been one of the best chroniclers and commentators on the Black British experience, writing about police brutality, racism, and depravation. His most famous poem on this subject is ‘Inglan Is a Bitch’ from 1980:
“Well mi dhu day work an mi dhu nite wok,
mi dhu clean wok an mi dhu dutty wok,
dem seh dat black man is very lazy
but if yu si how mi wok yu woodah seh mi crazy
So on the night expect provocative and powerful reggae influenced poetry as well as perhaps some reggae music.
Support on the night is from Size2Shoes, Toluking, Marty Mulligan, and The Big Sing choir. Tickets are €15/10
